LDP House of Councilors Member Concealed “Photographic Evidence” of Attendance at Meetings of the Former Unification Church, Despite Claiming “No Contact” with the Church!

Yosuke Tsuruho, 55, a member of the House of Councilors of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who is expected to run in the supplementary election for Wakayama Ward 1 in the House of Representatives this April, was found to have a relationship with the former Unification Church. The magazine’s interview with Tsuruho revealed that he had been concealing this fact from the public.

Please take a look at the photo below. This photo was taken at a meeting held on June 26 last year at “Wakayama Family Church of World Peace Unification Family Association” in Wakayama City. The person giving a speech next to the photo of Oyasama Moon Sungmyong and President Han Hakucha is Councilor Tsuruho. An LDP official in Wakayama, his hometown, revealed.

The Upper House election was announced on June 22, so the meeting was held right in the middle of the election period. The church had gathered followers to support Councilor Tsuruho, and he must have rushed to the meeting to win their support. He gave a 30-minute speech in front of several dozen followers.”

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was killed by a bullet on July 8, 2011. Two days later, Senator Tsuruho was elected for the fifth time, thanks to the support of his church. However, the senator decided to turn a blind eye to the meeting.

In a Kyodo News survey of National Diet members conducted in July and August of last year, Senator Tsuruho answered “no” to all of the following questions: “donations and party ticket purchases,” “support for campaign activities,” and “attendance at meetings and congratulatory telegrams. Also, Senator Tsuruho’s name was not included in the results of a survey released by the LDP last September,” said a reporter from the political section of a national newspaper.

If he had asked the former Unification Church for support and then continued to conceal it, he would not be immune from criticism. On January 12 this year, this magazine directly interviewed Senator Tsuruho after a dinner in Tokyo.

–Is it true that you gave a speech at a meeting of the Wakayama Family Church of the former Unification Church on June 26 of last year?

Yes. Yes.”

–What was the purpose of his participation?

‘Well, I was told by a person related to the local sheikh. …… He said, ‘It’s a group that will support your election, so why don’t you show up? (The people gathered there were) believers, I guess. I didn’t even know where I was going until I got there.

–There is also a photo of the couple. It is clear that it is a former Unification Church facility.

That’s right.”

–Did you think it would lead to votes?

Yes.

–Until now, you had stated that you had not attended any meetings. False.

“Oh, I found out later.”

–After?

Yes, much later last year.

–If so, he should have announced it himself.

Well, I guess he didn’t have a chance to do so.

With these words, Senator Tsuruho got into his car.

He was at a former Unification Church church and attended a meeting held just before the incident involving former Prime Minister Abe, but “found out about it after the fact” is an appalling excuse. Political journalist Koichi Kakutani asserts, “The idea that you can lie if you don’t get caught is a lie.

Koichi Kakutani, a political journalist, commented, “The idea that it is OK to lie as long as it is not exposed shows a lack of ethics on the part of the politician. Naturally, the LDP is also to blame. Even as cabinet ministers resigned one after another, some lawmakers still concealed their relationship with the cult, and they left it unchecked. This conceit will undoubtedly be conveyed to the voters.

Is Senator Tsuruho going to be accountable? And will the LDP really support such a legislator in the supplementary election for the House of Representatives?

From the February 3, 2023 issue of FRIDAY